CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A once-dismissed lawsuit claiming Charlotte Latin School pushed “politicized curriculum” after the 2020 death of George Floyd has been renewed by the Republican-led N.C. Supreme Court — despite pushback from its Democrat judges.

Parents Nicole and Doug Turpin filed the lawsuit in 2024 saying the south Charlotte private school deceived and defamed them after they raised concerns that new DEI and race priorities were eroding admissions, hiring and curriculum decisions, justices recounted in an opinion published last week.

Judges in Mecklenburg Superior Court and the N.C. Court of Appeals previously dismissed the lawsuit for failing to state a claim. The state’s highest court on Aug. 14 overturned those dismissals, though the court’s two Democrat judges did not agree with the five Republican judge’s decision.

Justice Richard Dietz, who authored the majority opinion, wrote that the court is not ruling on any of the political issues raised in the lawsuit. Rather, five justices agreed lower courts should have held more proceedings on stated claims for breach of contract, fraud, unfair and deceptive trade practices and defamation.

Dietz said the Turnpin’s 60-pages of allegations — which “occasionally resemble a press release more than a legal filing — may have complicated lower courts’ understanding of their claims.

DEI lawsuit against Charlotte Latin School

The Turpins, who had two children enrolled in the prestigious South Charlotte private school, wrote in their original lawsuit that the curriculum shifted in the racial justice movement that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd. Educators talked about the school’s “roots in racism,” told all students to choose preferred pronouns and assigned books and poems about “homosexuality and transgenderism that were pornographic and/or not age appropriate,” court documents say.

The Turpins and a group of about 10 other parents brought their concerns to the school’s board and had individual meetings with administrators. School leaders promised parents and students would not face retaliation for bringing up their concerns, according to the lawsuit. But then the students were expelled, and Charlotte Latin sent a schoolwide email accusing the parents of “making racist statements that ‘diverse students and faculty have not earned their positions and honors at Latin.’”

While the Court of Appeals held that the school was right to call the parents’ statements racist, N.C. justices said: “We reject this errant holding.”

The Court of Appeals wrongly ruled critiques against DEI goals in admissions or hiring “are the legal equivalent of racist comments,” the justices said.

“We brought this case because parents should be able to ask questions and raise concerns about their children’s education without fear of retaliation,” the Turpins said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer. “We hope what happened to our family ultimately leads to greater accountability and protects other families across North Carolina from ever having to go through the same experience.”

Justice Allison Riggs dissented to Deitz’s and the other Republican judge’s decision, warning that the lawsuit “would open the door to litigation against all private schools.”

Charlotte Latin School did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It told WSOC: “We care deeply about fostering an inclusive educational community rooted in kindness, civility, and mutual respect. Decisions regarding student enrollment are never taken lightly ... The Supreme Court’s ruling addresses the preliminary issue of whether the complaint meets pleading standards; it is not a determination on the merits of the allegations.”

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